Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Bib or Nursing Cover Strap

When Spencer was nursing he was a flailer. He would kick off any blanket I tried to put
over him, and as a result I gave up trying to nurse in any kind of public
area. Now that I’m gearing up for baby
girl, I wanted a nursing cover, but it seemed like one more thing I’d have to
carry around. I told my friend Erin that
what I really needed was a dental bib cord, and she pulled out an adjustable strap
with clips on both ends made specifically for nursing. Brilliant!
I looked into buying one, but they’re $12, and that seems like a trivial
thing to spend $12 on, so I thought I’d make one myself.

I wanted it to be adjustable because it can also be used as
a makeshift bib by clipping it to a napkin.
Unfortunately I could not for the life of me get my hands on a slider
without paying at least $5 for shipping, which I was not willing to do. I even considered going to Goodwill for a
cheap purse to hack the slider off of, but then my husband suggested Velcro
instead. Velcro was a great idea, but I
already owned a sizable stash of buttons, and really it only needed 2 settings-
the largest and the smallest. I finally had my design!

Sew the cloth together right-sides touching
length-wise. Turn the tube of cloth
inside out by attaching a large safety pin to one end and send it up through
the middle of the cloth inching the tube over the pin. Iron the cloth flat. Sew one of the mitten clips to one end, tucking the raw edge under or inside the tube before sewing it down.

This is how close I sewed the button to the buttonhole. Note that I had to change buttons because my originals were too fat for the mitten clip to slip over.

On the other end, turn the raw edge of the cloth into the
tube and sew it flat. Sew a buttonhole
on that end the size of the button you’re using. Then sew a button close to the buttonhole,
and another by the opposite end. Put your
mitten clip on and you’re ready to cover!

At nursing cover length...

...and bib length.

Spencer reluctantly models the strap as a bib.

Try It

$2.99 for the
whole project. My cloth was a Christmas
gift from my father-in-law, and who knows where

3 comments:

This is very cool! Still, I really liked my nursing cover because it had a metal hoop inside that held the cover open by my collar so I could still see the baby and he could get a little more air. I had summer babies so that was important. It also doubled as a burp cloth and sun shade. But I would definitely try this method too. Love your blog by the way :)

This is awesome! I have a piece of plain muslin that came in a pack of swaddle blankets. I was thinking of tie dying it so that it is not so see through and using it as a nursing cover (the ones in the stores seem like they could get hot for my little guy). But I couldn't figure out how to attach it to me so that he doesn't kick it off. I will definitely be doing this:) Thanks Laura!

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About Me

My name is Laura, and I live in central Virginia. I'm an enthusiastic but untrained crafter and cook who likes to try new projects. If you have a project you'd like me to analyze, let me know! Leave a comment or email me at tryitorbuyit@gmail.com, and I'll see what I can do.